Sail Across the Sun
by bookwormLynae
Summary: Short, drabble-like stories based on the characters of the Avengers and Thor. Different (non-canon) pairings are experimented with, and the consequences of different choices.
1. Their Stay on the Moon

**This is not canon. At all. But I do have my own little head canon for just about every pairing out there. About all you need to know to follow this is that both characters got burned. You'll see who, but I don't want to give out the impression that either of them are being jerks. :) You should also know that for this story, Jane has perfected her own version of the Bifrost and used it, and went to a couple different places. However, because...reasons...the device had to be destroyed, and she was the only one who ever got to use it. I've bee listening to this song on repeat for probably two weeks straight, and have at least three other chapters of this planned. Each chapter is its own story, just a different pairing. Reviews are appreciated!**

**Note that the story is short enough that, if you would like, and I think you should, listen to Drops of Jupiter, by Train while you read. It helps with the mood.**

_Sail Across the Sun_

_Chapter One_

_Their Stay on the Moon_

A new song started, the opening chords hushing the bar ever so slightly.

Bruce turned off the screen of his phone, and leaned back. "Drops of Jupiter, by Train." he explained to Steve. "A classic."

Tony leaned forward, cocking his head and listening, uncharacteristically quiet.

Jane and Darcy returned from the bathroom, talking and smiling. "Of course it's your favorite song. You've been as close to Jupiter and everywhere else than anyone else ever will be, and your name is in the song."

Jane stood at the corner of the table. "No," she insisted, smiling softly. "It's always been my favorite."

Tony spoke. "I think it's a pretty accurate song."

Darcy slid into the booth next to Bruce. "Maybe if you know someone who has been to Jupiter and have fallen in lo…..oh." Bruce raised his brows and smiled slightly. Darcy returned her eyes to Jane, who slowly sat at the end of the table, eyes closed and swaying.

She watched Tony stand, rocking slightly on his heels. "Jane." Her eyes slid open. "Since it's your favorite, would you like to dance?" he asked hesitantly.

She nodded once. "Yes." she answered. Her face did not change, but her eyes warmed, and Tony caught it, a touch of his usual confidence returning as he helped her up, and led her toward the dance floor.

Darcy watched them go, smiling gently as they began to dance, slightly distant and stiff, almost like a fawn seeking its legs.

Clint and Natasha returned with baskets of hot wings and mozzarella sticks. Natasha glanced back toward the floor, and made an almost indecipherable noise in her throat.

"He promised he would come back within a day or two." Darcy said distantly, not speaking to anyone directly, just the air. "It's been years. Long years. And we know he could, that the bridge is working." She hesitantly sampled a hot wing, relishing the burn in the back of her throat.

Clint's thumb slid on the side of his glass, the ice burning through the glass and stinging his skin. "If he comes, he won't hurt her again." he affirmed.

Bruce hummed an assent, watching the floor for a glance at the two.

Steve looked up in time to see them, in the middle of the crowd, oblivious to the swirling masses, swaying to the music. Jane's head rested on Tony's shoulder, and his face was in her hair. The smoke and dark made it hard to tell, but jewels seemed to glimmer on Jane's lashes, and trail down her cheek.

Natasha smiled, bitter-sweet, and sad.

The setting sun slid through the window, and the floor stained hearts-blood-red, and swirled into golden yellow, the dust glittering, and the haze forming golden halos around ones who were no angels.

The song ended, and the sun set, and Jane and Tony returned to the table.

His real smile was back, and Jane had stars glistening from her eyes once again.


	2. Plain 'Ol Jane

**I'm going to admit that the ending isn't quite what I had in mind ****originally. Nor am I 100% happy with it. But, ah well, these are experiments. And, not, these are not all going to be Jane-centric. I have ideas with Darcy, and Natasha, maybe even Pepper. Reviews are appreciated. **

_Plain Ol' Jane_

Tony's parties were everything Jane was not. Everything glittered and glimmered. The smooth imported marble echoed the clack of Jimmy Cho heels, and the swish of Prada and Dior. Jane wore her grandma's pearls, a modest, retiring peach dress off the Macy's bargain rack, and flats. People who dripped wealth and screamed success swam around her in a steady stream of champagne and chatter. Giggling women hung off the brawny arms of men, and they turned adoring eyes toward their darling charges. And she stood alone.

She could see Tony and Pepper hosting near the entrance, graciously welcoming late-comers. Steve towered over the group of women surrounding him, eating up his every word, and for once, he did not look discomfited by the attention. Long association meant that she could pick Natasha and Clint out of the shadows, where they slid to and fro, watching, and never accepting the offered accolades.

"The world is safe, and it was a team effort." Was all any of the Avengers would say. And it was all the world would ever know. The battle had been fought underground, and high above, and on Asgard, but not New York. Jane pursed her lips. All these silly people would never quite understand what had been gone through to save them from an enemy they could not fathom.

Thor's booming voice could be heard in the farthest corners, and though a lady was noticeably absent from his side, a chain hung around his neck, and the charm that dangled from it was Lady Sif's crest.

Jane retreated to a table with a glass of ginger ale, raising it in quiet salute as she passed Bruce, who was similarly sequestered, and trying eagerly to avoid much human interaction.

It was a table for two, and she knew no one would join her, and the corner was dark enough that she felt free to lay her face in her hands. Tears that had lain dangerously near the surface for days trembled closer and clogged her throat. No one else would ever know it, but privately, SHIELD and all the Avengers had praised her. Her Bifrost had been what it took, and she had operated it, and helped run comms, and been an Avenger. "Always will be an Avenger." they assured her. But now it was destroyed, and it could never be done again. She had gazed at the sky since she was a child, wondering what worlds were there, and then she had found, built a bridge to them, saved the world, and her feet would never leave Earth.

The night had worn on enough that dancing had begun. In tribute to Steve's preferences, big band and old jazz had started the night, but now it had segued into something newer.

"Now that she's back in the atmosphere….." Jane sipped, the cold burning down her throat. It had been her favorite song since the first time she had heard it. She had always thought that she would be the one it could be sung about, who would visit to the sun and back, and dance all the way. Instead, everyone she cared about had, but not her. "Remind me that there's time to change." That made her smile. It was true. Tony's eyes had gained new depth. Star-depth, universe depth, yet every time he came back to Pepper. He called her his world, and now he meant it. Bruce, too, had calmed. In the face of the universe, vast stars and shimmering suns, he had also gained enough depth to hold both parts of who he was.

That was what the sky had always meant for her. Its vastness had always given her perspective, reminding her that her own problems were little and petty. But now, they were swallowing her. In the craziness of saving the world, and the fog that had encompassed New York for weeks, she had not seen the stars in too long.

"Plain Ol' Jane." described her well now. She had reached the limits of what she could do. If she reached any further into the sky, it would bring enemies upon them that not even the Avengers could best.

A dark shape occupied the seat across from her. "You are not dancing?" the courtly tone inquired.

She met Loki's green gaze, "Ah, no. Just listen to the song."

He listened for only a second, and comprehension swept across his face.

Jane's face stayed as placid and emotionless as any spy's.

"That." he said, quietly, gesturing and encompassing the music and the glittering, dancing masses, "Is your sorrow, and fear?"

Jane nodded. Lying to him, she well knew, was useless.

He pulled her to her feet without a word, and swept her out to the balcony. The fog still clung to the edges of building, and though it glimmered silver in the muted moonlight, she hated it. She loathed the fog with every bit of her soul. He noticed her look of distaste and raised an eyebrow in question.

"My parents died in an accident because of the fog." She explained. "And," she added petulantly "I can't see the stars."

"Alas, even I can't bring back the dead." he said seriously. "But, the rest I can fix." He reached out, and tentatively touched her shoulder, then drew back. "Do you trust me?" he asked.

Jane did not answer right away. He had fought beside them, been injured beside them, and mourned beside them, but even from here, if she glanced to her right, she could see cranes arcing through the mist, poised to continue repairing the chaos he had left in his wake. Everyone believed that he had been under Thanos' control. Thanos himself had admitted to it as they had fought him. But trusting Loki….. She drew a breath. It was the same as the way she looked to the sky. It was wild and deep, beyond her sight and comprehension, but she had always believed that deep within it was a golden realm worth weathering all battles for.

She lifted her chin and met his gaze. "Yes."

He pulled her toward him, arm around her shoulder, and with a blink, they stood on the roof. The effortless magic made Jane smile slightly.

Loki walked around so he was facing her. "Now, Jane Foster, why are you so sad?"

Jane closed her eyes. "Some day, perhaps, but not likely, I shall see Asgard, but it was never my goal. I always wanted to dance through the stars, across a sunset. See the wide universe stretch beneath my feet. Hear the story behind every star and constellation. But now the way I made to do all that isn't safe. It would bring enemies, so I'm doomed to this." She spun so she faced the edge. "I'm just Jane. Not worth much." She opened her eyes, gazing into the empty fog. "I know I'm valued. But I had a choice to make. And I chose to save the world, repair the Bifrost, and lose someone who once said they loved me."

Loki watched her. She was a pink and golden gleam in the gray. A year before, he would have been the first to counsel his brother that his little mortal would never make a queen, much less an eternal one. But he had watched this woman weather his brother's rejection, and battle a foe that nearly ripped the universes apart, and in all of the chaos, and the sorrow of her broken dreams, she stood proud and tall, longing only for a glimpse of the stars. He stepped closer and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Close your eyes." he instructed gently. Magic flowed around them in a heady stream. "Open them."

Jane gasped as she looked around. "Is this Asgard?" she asked excitedly.

"It is, but we are only a projection." he cautioned. "We can come here physically, if you would like, but this only our first destination of the night."

Jane quirked her head, "Can I explore?" She did not even wait for his answer, but slipped down the hallways, poking her head in doors. One caused her to stop. She glanced back for permission, and at Loki's nod, slipped in.

"It's an observatory! And a planetarium." She moved around, looking at star charts tacked to the wall. "Some of the stars are the same, but smaller. Almost like we are above Earth, and there are other stars between us."

She asked question after question, and Loki's knowledge was equal to her curiousity. In an instant, they were no longer in Asgard, but as she asked about each realm, Loki whisked them to it, showing, rather than telling her the answers to her questions. When her questions turned solely to the stars, they pulled away from the ground, and hovered among the stars twisting as they examined each in turn. As the sun rose, Loki ceased talking and smiled.

"Your dance?" he asked with a bow.

Jane smiled, all the stars reflected in her eyes, and nodded.

The only music was the morning songs of the stars, and they danced along the arc of the rising sun until it glowed golden and whole in the sky.

"The spell is ending, Cinderella." Loki warned, with a small smile. Jane laughed, glassy and pure. She slipped her shoes off, and left them, toes pointed toward the sun, like a pilgrim. The sun blushed at the compliment, and they were back on the roof of Stark Tower.

The cloud of fog still wreathed the city, and the late party-goers who had come to the roof to watch the sunrise were leaving in disappointment. But as they stepped onto the roof, the sun and starlight that had wound itself around them uncoiled and split the clouds, dissipating the fog and banished the gloom.

Jane spun to face Loki, who smiled in pure mischief, and with a flick of his wrist, caused all the colors of the sunrise to burst into glorious fireworks. She stepped forward, and gasped as he replaced her dress with one the color of starlight, that glistened with all the colors surrounding them. She glanced at her feet, and found them still bare. But she was distracted as her hair fell in front of her face.

"It is from your song." he explained. "Drops of Jupiter in her hair." he quoted. He lifted it and let it slide through his fingers, each lock shimmering.

She took a step closer, and stood directly facing him, with her face turned up. His eyes widened slightly at what he read there. Her frame was still small, but eternity rested deep in her eyes. But more importantly, there was something altogether new in her face. He did not move, but Jane reached up and pulled his face toward hers. Their lips met, and it was as if the sun grew, and engulfed them. As she drew her lips away, Jane whispered against his face. "All my realms, all the stars, and the sky."

"And you the sun."


End file.
